Comments Off on Joel Ward’s road to Washington is one built on hard work and hardship

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Washington Capitals fans are going to get to know Joel Ward pretty well starting this season after signing with the Caps on a four-year, $12 million deal in the offseason. Ward spent the last three seasons being a full-time player with the Nashville Predators as a grind line guy. Ward was able to make a big impression on the Preds and the rest of the world in the playoffs last season scoring seven goals and six assists in the Predators’ 12 games in the postseason.

Ward’s breakout in the playoffs came on the heels of a regular season that saw him have a comparatively off season scoring just ten goals and adding 19 assists for a career low 29 points. After getting his start in Minnesota with the Wild and being given up on there, getting to become a playoff phenom as a grind line guy showed what Ward has always been all about.

CSNWashington’s Chuck Gormley gets the story of Joel Ward that shows that bouncing back from hardship is nothing new for the 31 year-old Scarborough, Ontario native. From having his father suffer a stroke during a youth hockey game when he was 14 years-old, one which claimed his life days later to being raised by his mom who worked two jobs, getting to this point shows how hard of a road it can be to make it to the NHL and the sacrifices of family are often part of the process.

With the financial and emotional support of his mother, who worked at two hospitals and still found time to drive him to practices, Ward developed into a prospect and, three years after his father’s death, earned a spot with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Ward spent four years in Owen Sound but when no NHL team showed interest in him at the NHL draft or through free agency, he enrolled at the University of Prince Edward Island, where he played four seasons and earned a degree in Sociology.

Ward figured that if he didn’t make it in hockey, he’d teach in an elementary school. Determined to put his teaching career on hold, Ward signed with a professional roller hockey team in Florida, which led to a tryout with an East Coast Hockey League team, which in turn led to an invitation to the Minnesota Wild’s training camp in 2005.

Two years later Ward made his NHL debut and despite a third full season in the AHL, he became an NHL regular with the Nashville Predators at the age of 28.

Ward made his NHL debut in the 2006-2007 season with Minnesota but didn’t really make a name for himself until his first season with the Predators in 2008-2009 where he recorded career-high 17 goals as well as 35 points.

Now he gets the chance to be part of a team that’s at or near the top of many lists as the Stanley Cup favorites this season. Getting to play on the same team as Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, and now Tomas Vokoun if Ward can bring the kind of game he showed in the playoffs last season and able to apply it all year long, he could help the Caps be the missing piece to their Stanley Cup dreams. One thing’s for sure, you can’t count out Joel Ward to work as hard as possible to try and make it happen.